Amid its pursuit of a listing on the London Stock Exchange, Shein left a bad impression with British MPs during a hearing on Tuesday, January 7. The hearing is part of the UK's Workers' Rights Bill, which aims to protect workers from poor working conditions when buying imported goods. It was intended to give potential investors more clarity about Shein's supply chain. Yinan Zhu, Shein's general counsel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), however, repeatedly refused to answer questions directly from Liam Byrne, chair of the British committee, during the session.

Shein was particularly unable to provide “direct answers” to questions about cotton produced in China, in the Xinjiang province notorious for forced labor. Asked whether the company was confident it was compliant with the UK’s Modern Slavery Act of 2015 (a law designed to combat modern slavery and forced labour), Zhu replied: “Our position is that we are compliant with relevant UK laws.”

According to a Reuters report, Byrne was "visibly irritated" by Zhu's answers, saying: "For a company that sells a billion pounds to British consumers and is seeking a listing on the London Stock Exchange, the committee is quite shocked by the lack of evidence you have provided today.

"You have given us almost no confidence in the integrity of your supply chains. You can't even tell us what your products are made of. You can't tell us much about the conditions under which workers are working, and your reluctance to answer basic questions borders on contempt for the committee."

Shein's path to listing on the London Stock Exchange has been bumpy. The company has come under constant scrutiny from both human rights groups and British politicians. Critics have been urging authorities to halt the IPO due to the lack of transparency in Shein's supply chain. It is unclear what effect the hearing will have on the potential IPO.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.NL. It was translated to English using an AI tool called Genesis and edited by Rachel Douglass..